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The same degree of pressure applied to the frog, that produces only pleasant sensation when in health, creates exquisite pain when diseased. It is therefore of great importance to preserve the frog sound, for when, cut, it becomes highly susceptible of every impres sion we might with as much wisdom remove the skin of the human foot, when obliged to walk on stones, without shoes.'

In the common mode of shoeing, the author observes, the operator pares away the bars entirely, and often a part of the frog. This practice Mr. Coleman strongly condemns, for he considers the existence of the bars as necessary to preserve the heels from contraction; and he regards their removal as predisposing the foot to corns and contraction. The common. shoe, when applied after this injudicious paring, acts on the lower edge of the crust in the manner of a vice; and, as the growth of that substance proceeds obliquely outwards, the shoe becomes too small in the course of a month. The outer edge of the shoe thus comes to rest on the sole, instead of the crust,' and produces inflammation. Though the expansive power of the crust overcomes the resistance of the shoe nails to its growth, yet they have a powerful effect in diminishing it ; and, in process of time, the heels are more or less contracted. The hoof, naturally circular, then becomes oblong.

In the third section, the author describes the practice in shoeing horses which he prefers, and which is now pursued at the Veterinary College":

The first thing to be attended to, is to take away a portion of the sole, between the whole length of the bars and crust, with a drawing knife. The heels of the sole, as has already repeatedly been observed, cannot receive the pressure of the shoe without corns. To avoid pressure, the sole should be made concave or hollow, and not allowed to be in contact with the shoe. If there be any one part of the practice of shoeing, more important than the rest, it is this removal of the sole, between the bars, and crust. When this operation is performed, the horse will always be free from corns, whatever may be the form of the shoe; but, if the sole is suffered to be flat at the heels, and pressed upon by the shoe, it is of very little importance what kind of shoe is applied. Every groom, and every smith, is fully convinced that the sole will not bear pressure; and to prevent this effect they remove the whole of the bars, by opening the heels, and applying a concave shoe. We have endeavoured to prove, that the destruction of the bar is always improper; that this practice is the remote cause of corns, the very disease which it is intended to prevent; and that the bars are very necessary to preserve the circular form of the hoof. Besides this, the heels of the shoe should be made to rest on the junction of the bars with the crust; but if the bars are

*The bars are two processes, which extend diagonally on each side of the hoof, from the frog to the crust, or horny part.

rem oved,

removed, then the shoe is supported by the crust only, and not by the solid broad basis of crust and bars united.'

For the particular method of paring the sole, we refer the reader to the book. Of the shoe, Mr. C. thus speaks:

After the hoof has been cut, and properly prepared, then it be comes requisite to apply a shoe, and to vary its length, breadth, and thickness, at the heel, surfaces, &c. according to the hoof. If the heels of the fore feet are two inches and a half, or more in depth, the frog sound, and prominent, and the ground dry, then only the toe of the hoof requires to be shortened, and afterwards protected by a short shoe. This shoe is made of the usual thickness at the toe, but gradually thinner towards the heel. A common size saddle horse shoe may be about three-eighths of an inch thick at the toe, and one-eighth at the heel. The intention of this shoe is to bring the frog completely into contact with pressure, to expand the heels, to prevent corns, and thrushes, and canker; and if the shoe be applied when the ground is dry, in the month of May or June, it may be continued the whole summer; and in warm climates, where the ground is not subject to moisture, no other protection for the hoof is requisite.'

This passage is followed by directions, adapted to all the va rieties which may occur in the state of the hoof. Different methods of paring the crust are also detailed, in cases in which the shape of the hoof has been injured by the common method of shoeing..

The general weight and dimensions of horse-shoes are stated in the following terms:

A shoe and nails, for a moderate sized coach horse, should weigh from eighteen to twenty ounces. This shoe may be about one inch wide at the toe, and three-fourths of an inch at the heel; threesixths of a inch thick on the outside of the toe, and one-sixth on the inside. The heels of the shoe, should be only one-sixth of an inch, or one-third the thickness of the toe.

A saddle horse shoe with nails may weigh about twelve or fourteen ounces; wide at the toe six-eighths of an inch, but one-fourth less at the heel. The toe of the shoe may be three-eighths of an inch thick on the outside; the inside of the toe and the heel one-eighth. These proportions will be found generally proper for common feet; but it must be obvious that some little variation may sometimes be requisite. If the iron be well formed, the shoes for ordinary labor should last twenty-eight days; and if any horse wears out his shoes before twenty-eight days, the substance of the next shoes may be increased.'

The more particular descriptions cannot be understood without referring to the plates; and we suppose that every person, to whom a knowlege of them is necessary, must wish to be possessed of the book itself.

The best form for the external surface of the shoe, Mr. Coleman thinks, is a regular concavity; that is, the common shoe reversed.

He

He advises to nail the shoe all round the toe of the crust, and to preserve the greater part of the quarters free from nails. The head of the nail preferred by him is in the form of a wedge. which, when thoroughly hammered, becomes firmly connected with the nail-hole, so as to form part of the shoe. When the head of the common nail is worn out, on the contrary, the shoc is apt to become loose.

We shall add some useful observations on the prevention of cutting:

Horses are very liable to strike one leg with the opposite hoof; this accident is termed cutting. The part most frequently bruised. is, the side of the fetlock joint. Where the toe of the hoof is turned out, the inner quarters of the shoe or hoof are more frequently the parts that do the mischief: but when the toe is turned in, the injury is done by the anterior part of the shoe.

If the toe is turned out, the inner quarter of the crust is most frequently lower than the outer. This condition of the hoof necessarily inclines the fetlock joint of the foot that supports the weight, nearer to the foot in motion.

:

Farriers generally attend to the hoof that cuts, and not to the hoof of the injured leg but while the leg is in the air, no shoe can alter its direction; and the small quantity of horn, or iron, that can be removed from the hoof and shoe, very rarely prevents cuttingBut it is very practicable to alter the position of the leg, that supports the animal; and thus the foot in motion may pursue the same direction without being liable to cut. The outer quarter of the crust should be lowered, and the inner quarter preserved. This operation will tend to make the bottom of the hoof the reverse of its former state, that is, the inside quarter higher than the outside, and this will throw the fetlock joints farther from each other.

Where the sole is thin, very little of the crust can be removed from the outside; and then it will be necessary to attend to the shoe, The inner quarter should be thickened, and the outer quarter made thin; which will produce the same effect, as altering the horn; or. if the hoof be sufficiently strong, both these remedies may be employed at the same time.'

There is reason for congratulating the public on the appearance of these sensible and useful remarks. They augur a sa❤ lutary change, in a department hitherto enveloped in barbarity and darkness; and though experience may lead to the altera tion of some of the doctrines and some of the practices here recommended, the promulgation of principles arising from scientific discussion must ultimately produce great benefit. It is scarcely within the province of literary critics, to judge of the propriety of such practical directions as are here laid down. by Mr. Coleinan: by experience only can they be fairly and fully tried :-but, when we consider what improvements have taken place in every other pursuit, connected with the security

or the enjoyment of life, we feel great astonishment that the care of the horse in this country should only now be growing into credit and reputation. It is undoubtedly a measure of great wisdom, to give a proper rank in society to those who so materially contribute to its service; and an act only of indispensable justice and mercy, to promote the ease of animals who so greatly contribute to our pleasures.

ART. VI. Transactions of the Royal Irish Academý, Vol. VI. [Article concluded from the Rev. for May, p. 15—27.]

ANTIQUITIES.

A Letter from William Caulfield Lennon, Esq. to the Right Hon. the Earl of Charlemont, President of the Koyal Irish Academy, &c. &c. &c.

THIS

His letter contains the description of an image taken from a pagoda in Bangalore, at the storming of that place in 1791. It represents Letchemy, the goddess of riches, fertility, beauty, mirth, courage, joy, eloquence, and matrimony,

Who from the variety of her power and patronage is styled Mahay Letchemy, or the Great Letchemy. She is the first wife of Veeshnoo, one of the Treemoortee or Hindoo Trinity, to whom she was married under the name of Seddee, when that god manifested himself to the world under that of Rama, at the court of her terrestrial father Tisseradah Rajah. She is equally worshipped in all the pagodas or temples both of Shivven and Veeshnoo, the former of whom is the chief and most powerful of the Treemoorter. Bruma, the third in consequence and power, has no temples of worship erected to him. She is represented in the habit of a Cunshinnee or dancing girl, as the goddess of mirth and beauty: the flower she hoids in her right hand is the Taumaray or Indian Lotus, which grows in all the tanks or reservoirs of water, and is the emblem of fertility, as it only grows in water, on which all fertility in that country depends.'

The image is composed of the gold, silver, and copper, offered by the votaries who visit the pagodas; these metals are melted down, and cast into the form of the deities. The present of this image to the academy was accompanied by a leaf of the Palmyra, a species of palm-tree, on which a fable is written, in the Malabar language, with an iron style. Two prints of the image are given.

An Account of the Manuscript Papers which belonged to Sir Philip Hoby, Knt., who filled several important Offices in the Reign of Edward VI. and which are at present the Property of William Hare, Esq. one of the Representatives in Parliament for the City of Cork. By the Rev. Mr. Hinçkes, of Cork.

The

The detail of these papers, which form two volumes in folio, does not promise much information to either the historian or the antiquary. Notices of family-papers, however, are always to be encouraged; for there are undoubtedly many manuscript treasures, which are withholden from the public by supineness or false delicacy.

Account of four circular Plates of Gold found in Ireland. By Ralph Ousley, M. R. I. A. ·

The number of antique golden ornaments, discovered in different parts of Ireland, furnishes a curious subject of inquiry to the antiquary. Mr. Ousley observes, in this very brief paper, that Ireland must formerly have possessed mines of that precious metal, or a lucrative traffic with nations abounding in it. Papers in SCIENCE concluded.

Remarks on the Causes and Cure of some Diseases of Infancy. By Joseph Clarke, M. D. & M. R. I. A.

Dr. Clarke controverts the opinion that greenness of the fæces, in infants, is the effect of a superabundant acid. He is inclined to believe them to be bilious; especially as he has found that the green colour disappears in the course of a few hours after the evacuation has taken place. Instead of absorbents, therefore, he exhibited calomel, and with the best giving effects. He speaks of this as a new practice: but, though it may have been little known in Ireland, we believe that it has long been pursued in this country. Children are often subject to superfluous secretion of bile, and sometimes to astonishing accumulations of that fluid. In such cases, we have seen great benefit accrue from repeated doses of calomel, joined with James's powder, or emetic tartar. Dr. C. has also found calomel useful in convulsions, occurring on the ninth day of the infant's life. He considers the cutaneous eruptions, to which children at the breast are liable, as designed to free the system from redundant fluids. On this subject, our readers may refer to the accurate and valuable work of Dr. Willan. (See Rev. May last, p. 75-)

History of a Case in which very uncommon Worms were dise charged from the Stomach; with Observations thereon. By Samuel Crumpe, M. D. & M. R. I. A.

This is the case of a lady, who, after repeated pneumonic attacks, and symptoms of consumption, was seized with vomiting of blood, and in the course of the complaint threw up a number of worms, which are particularly described, and engraved. With the vomiting of the worms, her complaints abated, and at length entirely ceased. Dr. Crumpe observes, on these appearances,

They

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